Cloudcroft, N.M. -- A closer look at cool

By Camille Flores, For the Express-News :
July 4, 2014
: Updated: July 5, 2014 11:07pm

With its nine-hole golf course and scenic mountaintop setting, The Lodge Resort & Spa in Cloudcroft is a favorite getaway for those escaping the summer heat.

Although abandoned trestles no longer serve the excursion trains that brought visitors to Cloudcroft, they transport visitors to another place and time in the Old West.

Photo By Courtesy photo

With mountains as the backdrop and shifting sand dunes as the setting, photographers consider White Sands a tempting locale for photos as the sun drops in the afternoon sky.

More Information

If you go

Southeastern New Mexico has a lot in common with west Texas and the Panhandle, including an underlying reserve of oil and a wide open, sparsely populated landscape. Only two major highways, Interstate 25 and U.S. 285 traverse its desert floor, and both run south to north. The Sacramento Mountains where Cloudcroft is located appear as a shimmering gray monolith running midway between them.

El Paso has the only commercial airport in the region, so travelers looking for a shorter stay should consider flying to El Paso and renting a car for the 96-mile trek to Cloudcroft.

Whichever route you take, remember to check the gas gauge often and to fill up whenever possible. Gas stations can be rare for long stretches when you leave El Paso.

Words for wayfarers

At about 9,000 feet above sea level, mountain communities may present a challenge to lowlanders. Plan to acclimate for a couple of days before trying any high-altitude activities.

Lincoln National Forest promises a plethora of seasonal outdoor activities, including hiking, biking, horseback riding and camping. In the winter months, add snowmobiling and inner tubing. This website includes pertinent information on all three districts of this immense forest, including the Sacramento District: www.fs.fed.us/r3/lincoln. Or call 575-682-2551.

White Sands National Monument: Check this website for a schedule of events, park times and alerts, including occasional park closures. www.nps.gov/whsa.

The Lodge Resort & Spa - A historic inn, spa and golf course with a full schedule of special events such as Friday Night Lights golfing. TheLodgeResort.com. 800-395-6343.

CLOUDCROFT, N.M. — With its decidedly Western flavor, Cloudcroft today is not greatly different from the small mountaintop town that tourists reached by train to escape the desert heat 100 years ago.

Cabins still lodge families, many of whom come back year after year to reconnect with friends and to enjoy summer activities that range from excellent hiking to midsummer cherry-picking in the nearby orchards of High Rolls. Summer sledding across 275 square miles of gypsum sand at White Sands National Monument about 40 miles away also draws plenty of visitors to the region.

At the turn of the 20th century, as the plan to build a railroad between El Paso and Alamogordo, New Mexico, chugged forward, its builders cast their eyes upward to the majestic Sacramento Mountains. They dispatched a scouting party, probably on pack mules because there were as yet no roads to the high country, to determine which of their interests those mountains might serve. The party returned with enthusiastic reports of untapped timber reserves — white and ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and stands of aspen. The dense tree canopy and the high altitude of about 9,000 feet also promised a welcome respite from the warmer climate below.

By 1912, a railroad-built excursion train was carrying visitors up to the new village of Cloudcroft, so named for the mists that rest upon its landscape as clouds dance across the sky. In fact, the Alamogordo-Sacramento Railroad provided the only means of public transportation to the mountaintop oasis for about half a century. The line was abandoned in 1948, but vestiges of its trestles and bridges remain and are visible on several of the hikes that weave around the village.

Along with a golf course and Victorian lodge still in operation, Cloudcroft was developed to serve timber interests, and later, tourists. Rustic cabins sprouted amid the pines where Cloudcroft straddles a 1.5-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 82.

It's not difficult to navigate a small town like Cloudcroft, which lacks even a single traffic light. Almost everything in the town is accessible by boot, including the shops that run on the side of the highway on what is called Burro Street or the Boardwalk. The fare sold in the stores is surprising. Many talented artists and craftspeople live in the area, and their wares may be found in the small shops, accompanied by colorful back stories told by the proprietors. A few good restaurants also dot the roadway, such as Western Café, now 50 years old and a local landmark. Businesspeople of Cloudcroft are leaders of community life, so don't be surprised to see shopkeepers run out of their stores just in time to march in a holiday parade or other such activities.

Of interest to Texans (and other visitors) is the presence of honest-to-goodness Texas barbecue in the culinary lineup. This is big deal in New Mexico, where Texas- and Southern-style barbecue are practically unheard of. So many a desert-dweller will travel up to Cloudcroft for a sweet-spicy plate of ribs.

Those looking for a grander experience gravitate to The Lodge Resort & Spa, a Cloudcroft landmark, which boasts an elegant restaurant and what is called the nation's highest golf course. A Victorian landmark, The Lodge even has its own ghost, Rebecca, and a bar once owned by Al Capone — no kidding. Weary hikers can score a great massage at The Lodge, too, and the expansive dining facilities accommodate a stream of conversation. Those in the know will ask for a window seat to take in the sunset and broad vistas, including White Sands below.

The Lodge maintains a dominant physical presence in, and above, the town. The cabins that cascade down the hillside toward the village are equally compelling, echoing, as they do, the laughter of families gathered to compare notes on the progress of care-free days in this corner of the Lincoln National Forest. There's a laid-back, stress-free vibe in Cloudcroft that lends itself to unwinding and to the spinning of great stories.

Those of us fortunate enough to have made the annual summer trek to Cloudcroft with our families share some defining moments. One is of hanging from cherry trees in the mid-summer days, when local orchard-keepers open their gates to customers willing to pick their own fruit. The run from the car and up the wooden ladders into the treetops was quickly accomplished, slowed down only long enough to grab our special pickin' buckets from the orchardist and to hear (if not to heed) our parents' warnings about falling out of trees. I recall eating many more cherries while lodged in those branches than my mom paid for at the scales below, where we'd meet on the way out.

Cloudcroft is also famous for its crisp mountain apples that ripen later in the year. Visitors to the area should definitely heed the “fresh fruit pie” signs tacked onto roadside trees.

Cloudcroft is only 90 miles from El Paso and within a 100-mile radius of other towns, such as Roswell, Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Tularosa and Ruidoso, the more famous town in the northern sector of the same mountains. There are many places to visit while staying in Cloudcroft, each one an easy drive from the tiny town.

One of the best is White Sands National Monument. This vast expanse of dunes is the largest swath of white gypsum sand in the world. The quietude of the vast expanse will make you think you've left the planet. And as the sights and sounds of the real world dim, one is left with silence, and, after sunset, with profound darkness that sets the stars ablaze — an unforgettably sensual experience.

Regularly scheduled ranger talks on the history and culture of the monument also enhance the visit, but if we are still talking about childhood memories, we must include the daylight activity of sand surfing — a rather high-handed name for flying across the dunes with abandon on sleds or reasonable facsimiles.

While there is no overnight camping at the monument, there are many activities that take place under a full moon, such as ranger-led night strolls and even musical events featuring regional strummers, singers and pipers.

White Sands does close sometimes because its neighbor, White Sands missile range, occasionally conducts tests that most tourists wouldn't want to be a part of, despite their potential as epic-memory makers. These closings are rare, though, and they are prominently posted on the monument's website.

Back in Cloudcroft, hiking trails provide portals to the scenic beauty of the Lincoln National Forest. Some offer views of the elaborate wooden trestles that lifted trains to the timber forests, while others lead to streams and waterfalls that run all year long, thanks to the snowmelt in the Sacramentos. A stop at one of the general stores or eateries in Cloudcroft for food and other provisions is necessary for any trek, as are some warm or water-repellent layers of clothing because unexpected changes in mountain weather may surprise even intrepid hikers. The entire area offers horseback riding and various camping opportunities.

Nearby is the Sunspot Solar Observatory, which would require a short car drive, especially for those families with small children. This scientific center focuses on observation of solar activity and includes a visitor and learning center.

Besides these nearby adventures, Cloudcroft is also near Lincoln, the epicenter of the famed Lincoln County War that raged in the late 1870s, and is considered the traditional home of Billy the Kid. Villagers hold an annual festival in August that features an outdoor re-enactment of the Kid's escape from the local jail — the Kid's last dash to freedom. Townsfolk work hard to maintain the historic flavor of Lincoln, so visitors can experience the Old West in comfort.

There are many more hidden gems to discover in these mountains, and they warrant a trip that is just off the well-beaten paths to the New Mexico destinations of Santa Fe and Taos. Plan to spend a couple of days in this natural setting and learn that nature really is cool, up high in the Sacramento Mountains.

Camille Flores is the author of “Santa Fe Icons: 50 Symbols of the City Different.” Formerly a New Mexico journalist, she now lives and writes in San Antonio.